Jun 27, 2011

Dassault Systèmes' DraftSight Surpasses One Million Downloads

Dassault Systèmes announced today that DraftSight has surpassed one million downloads. Over the past year since the launch of the no-cost 2D CAD product, users have been gravitating – from every area of the world – towards DraftSight and utilizing its functionality for all types of CAD creations.

From evaluating tools to help with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill clean up to developing beautiful yachts, users worldwide have implemented DraftSight in resourceful and inspiring ways. Schools across the globe have also offered DraftSight to students. In Utah, engineering students at Weber State University utilized DraftSight in the creation of a Hovercraft Autonomous Target Vehicle (HATV) developed for possible use in U.S. Air Force pilot training. Every month, the DraftSight website features the latest user stories and always encourages new users to submit projects showing the inventive ways in which they’re using the product.

One particular user, Bill Malone of Minneapolis, Minn., has since dedicated his future work to encouraging at-risk youth to pursue careers in manufacturing, using DraftSight as a prominent tool. “Onward Bound is a vocational education outreach program for juvenile offenders,” said Malone. “We’re offering the tools and knowledge that will give these kids some hope to get into rewarding careers. DraftSight is a key resource for this program.”

In the past year, DraftSight has launched the general availability of the product for Windows, a first and second beta for Mac and recently, a highly anticipated beta version of DraftSight for Linux. Along with these products, DraftSight unveiled its own DraftSight community, a robust online community that provides learning resources and encourages user questions, collaboration and support. This community is one of the first social networks designed by engineers for engineers, designers and architects. “We couldn’t be happier about reaching this milestone,” said Aaron Kelly, senior director, DraftSight, Dassault Systèmes. “From the start, it has been our intent to offer a valuable product for engineers and designers while giving them the opportunity to provide feedback on its future growth. We want to thank our users for the support and consistent response to DraftSight, and we look forward to continued shared success.”

For commercial users, DraftSight offers a Premium Service Pack that includes, for a minimal fee, telephone and email support, a network license and access to APIs and API updates. For educators, a Classroom or Campus Pack is available with curriculum materials, network licensing, access to APIs and API updates and telephone and email support. To help companies and universities interested in these services, DraftSight has just released a new Request A Quote option.